Loading apparatus.



s. B. RAW.

' LOADING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 2. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1'.

A 4 I 1% ///////I //4 THE NORRIS PETERS co., wasmrvamu, n. c.

A PATENTED OGT. 16, 1906. S. B. RAW.

' LOADING APPARATUS.

I APPLICATION FILED APB. 2.1906.

"2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1H: NORRIS PE1RS ca, WASHINGTON, p c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

Application filed April 2,1905. Serial N5. 309,301.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMON B. RAW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Britt, county of Hancock, State of Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Loading Apparatus; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates in general to loading apparatus, andmore particularly to mechanism for lifting material from the ground and depositing the same in a wagon.

The loading of material such as manure from the ground upon a wagon by hand is a slow and tedious process requiring much time and labor. Much economy in time and expense results from the employment of manually-operated hoisting mechanism capable of transferring at a single operation from-the ground to the wagon a quantity of material many times greater than could be lifted directly by hand.

The primary object of my invention is to provide an apparatus upon which material may be transferred from the ground by a scraper and which may then be elevated to permit a wagon to pass beneath the same to receive the material.

A further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus of the character described which will be simple in construction, inexpensive in manufacture, and efficient in use.

The embodiment of my invention herein disclosed may be generally described as consisting in a folding hopper composed of a frame to which upwardly-swinging sides and a downwardly-swinging bottom are pivoted, so that the hopper may be spread out horizontally upon the ground to receive material, means for locking the bottom horizon tally within the frame, means for elevating the hopper and simultaneously swinging upwardly the sides thereof, so as to permit a Wagon being located beneath the same, and means for unlocking the bottom, so that it may swing downwardly and permit the material in the hopper to fall into the wagon.

My invention will be more fully described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same is illustrated as embodied in a convenient and practical form, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view; Fig. 2, an end elevation looking from the right in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a plan view of the under side of the hopper when spread out horizontally.

The same reference characters are used to indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Reference characters A and A designate pairs of standards the upper ends of which incline slightly toward each other and are rigidly united by parallel side beams a and parallel end beams a and (L The lower ends of the standards are rigidly united together in any suitable mannersuch, for instance, as by sills A, united by cross-strips a The sills A rest upon the ground and may, if

desired, be embedded so that their' upper edges are flushwith the surface of the ground, as shown in Fig. 1.

Journaled upon the end beams a and a is a shaft B. Straps b and I) extend around the portions of the shaft immediately above the beams a, a to form bearings within which the shaft rotates. Fixed upon one end of the shaftsuch, for instance, as the' end which projects beyond the strap b -is a wheelO, the periphery of which is preferably provided with a spiral groove to receive a rope c.- One end of the ropes is secured to the periphery of the Wheel C. The rope is then wound around the wheel one or'more turns, after which it passes downwardly through a sheave M. The latter may be conveniently secured to one of the sills A, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fixed upon the endof the shaft B opposite to that on which the wheel C is secured is a ratchet-wheel D. A pawl D cooperates with the ratchet D and is pivoted to the outer surface of the top of the beam (1/. The pawl D is provided with a rigid arm d, extending laterally beyond its fulcrum, to the outer end of which a tripping-line D is secured. This tripping-line extends around a guide-pulley d fixed upon one of the standards, and thence depends adj acent one or more hooks (i with which a ring on the lower end of the line is adapted to be engaged.

My improved folding hopper, which is adapted to be elevated by the above-described or any suitable hoisting apparatus, consists in an open frame composed'of the end sections E and E united to side sections E and E. The sections of the frame may conveniently be formed of pipe, the ends of" which are screw-threaded so as to engage elbow-joints e, by means of which the ends and sides of the frame are rigidly united. The space within the frame is closed by a hinged bottom composed of two sections G and G Thebottom sections are pivotallysecured to. the side portions E and E of the frame by means of strap-hinges g, which surround the pipes composing the sides of the frame. The portions of the hinges which surround the pipe-sections are retained thereon by means of collars c and e. In order that the sections G and G of the bottom may be retained horizontally within the frame, reciprocating bolts h 71'? are provided, the former of which is adapted to pass through registering holes in the straps g and g secured to the respectivesections of the bottom, while the bolt 72/ is adapted to pass through registering holes in straps g and g", the former of which is secured to the section G and the latter to the section G Any suitable means may be provided for reciprocating the bolts h and hL-such, for instance, as a lever H, fulcrumedupon sections G by means of a staple hr The lever II is pivoted directly to the bolt k while .a rod H pivotally connects the same at the opposite side of its fulcrum to the bolt h. A guide h is provided for the rodv H, while. an extended guide k retains the lever. H closely against thesection G of the bottom.

'Side wings F 'and F are pivotally connectedto the sections .E and E of, the frame by; suitable hingessu ch, for instance, as the straps, j, which. pass around the respective pipes E? and E" of. the frame-and are confined thereon betweencollarse and 6. Wings F F? are pivotally connected. to the ends E and. E of. the frame by strap-hinges f, which pass around the pipes composing the ends .of. the frame. and are confined thereon bycollars .e and c respectively. Theend wings are of a length equal to the width. of theframe andv sidewings .when the latter are spread horizontally, as shownin Fig. 3.

Theside wings FFand F4 areprovided with hooks f and f respectively, to which are adapted to besecured the ends of, elevatingchainslr v andJcfl Two hooks are preferably provided oneach sidewing, as shownin Fig 3. Similar hooks f and f 3 are secured to the end. wings F F to which chains k and 16 are adapted to-besecured. Thechains 7c and k are,united, by means of a,ring, to one end of achainK the oppositeend of thelatter being secured to theshaft .B. A second chain K is secured at one endto the shaft B and at its other end, by means of a ring, to the upper ends of thechains k k In order to facilitate. closing the, bottom-sections ina horizontal position, a lever L is provided, one end of. whichis secured within a staple Z, fixed to. one of the sections of the bottom.

The operation of my invention is as fol- End lows: The shaft B is allowed to rotate by disengaging the pawl D from the ratchet D until the hopper rests upon the ground and the side and end wings occupy the same horizontal plane as the bottom thereof. The material which is to be loaded is then placed upon the hopper by a scraper or in any suitable manner, after which power is applied to the rope 0, thereby rotating the shaft B and winding thereon the chains K and K The winding up of the chains K and K pulls upwardly upon the chains is, W, k", and. k", thereby swinging upwardly the side and end wings of the hopper, so as to inclosethe material within the same. Then the continued rotation of the shaft B has elevated the hopper to a sufficient height to permit a wagon being drawn thereunder, further rotation of the shaft is discontinued, and it is held in the position to which it has been rotated by the engagement of the pawl D at the ratchet D. The lever H is then oscillated, so as to withdraw the bolts h 7L2 from the straps on the sections of the bottom of the hopper, so that the weight of. thematerial will swing downwardly the bottom sections and deposit the material in the wagon or other receptacle. The sections of the bottom may then be swung into horizontal position by means of'the lever L and then looked 5 in such position by reciprocating the bolts h and 71,2 by means of the lever H. The hopper may then be lowered by disengaging the pawl from the ratchet-wheel and spread upon the ground preparatory to receiving another 100 load of mater-ia from the scraper.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that I have invented an improved loading apparatus bymeans of whicha quantity of material may be easily elevated from to 5 a position on the ground. to a position above a wagon and then deposited intlie wagon.

While I have described more or less precisely the details of construction, I do not Wish to be understood as limiting myself 11o thereto, as I contemplate changes in form, the proportion of parts, and the substitution of equivalents as circumstances may suggest or render expedient without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Havingnow fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a hopper hav- 12o ing upwardly-swinging sides and a downwardly-swinging bottom whereby the hopper may be spread horizontally upon the round, of means for detachably locking the ottom in a closed position, and means connected to 125 the sides for elevating the hopper and simultaneously swinging upwardly the sides thereof to retainmaterial in the hopper.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a hopper hav- 1 0 ing upwardly swinging side wings and a downwardly-swinging bottom whereby the hopper may be spread horizontally upon the ground, of means for detachably locking the bottom in a closed position, flexible connections secured to the sides of the hopper, and

means for elevating these flexible connections thereby swinging upwardly said side wings and simultaneously elevating the ho p- 8. The combination with a supporting structure, of a rotary shaft journaled on said structure, means for rotating said shaft, a hopper having u wardly-swinging side wings and a downwar ly-swinging bottom, flexible connections secured to said side wings and to said shaft whereby when said shaft is rotated the side wings are swung upwardly and the hopper simultaneously elevated.

4. In a folding hopper, the combination with an open frame, of a bottom hinged to said frame to close the space within the same, side wings hinged to said frame to swing outwardly therefrom, means for locking said bottom a closed position within said frame,

and means connected to said side wings for swinging the same upwardly and simultaneously elevating said hopper.

5. The combination with a supporting structure, of a horizontal shaft journaled upon said structure, means for rotating said shaft, a folding hopper comprising an open frame, a horizontally-swinging bottom hinged to said frame, and side and end wings hinged to and swinging outwardly from said frame, flexible connections secured to said side and end wings and connected to said shaft whereby when said shaft is rotated the side and end wings are swung upwardly and the hop per simultaneously elevated, and means for detachably locking said bottom in a horizontal position to close the hopper.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

SIMON B. RAW.

Witnesses:

CHAs. F. OAs'rLE, JOHN M. HOLMES. 

